Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Anyone Deer Hunt With 380 Or 32 ACP?

Anyone feel these calibers are adequate for 90 to 150 pound deer?

You can kill deer all day with a .22 lr. My question is why would you with so many available alternatives. For the area I hunt I would call them completely inadequate and using them a stunt.

I did not mean that in a confrontational or demeaning way but I would not even try.

-Z

At point-blank range, right between-the-eyes ... ... maybe.

If I am ever attacked by one, I'll put that sucker down fast with my P-380.


I understand your point but even your 45 Super isn't that great of a deer round compared to a 30-06. As I said, everything is a compromise.

Check with Shrapnel, if he still posts here.

I recall a pic of him with a dead deer and a .380.

If you hunt deer with one you deserve a slap upside the head! Now if you finish off a wounded one with a shot to the back of the head that's a different story.

Haven't used a 380, but a 45 ACP with a 185 Barnes TAC-XP at 1200 fps done a fine job on a small 5pt meat buck last fall, 18 yard shot in the left shoulder, little buck took off carrying that left leg, trotted about 30 yards, stopped, and fell over.

Bullet exited the ribs on the offside too, surprised the heck outta me.

Gunner

This thread is not about deer hunting with a 380. It's a carry over of another thread to prove that the 380 is not an effective self defense round.

To the OP
If you don't mind, can you tell us how old you are. No offence intended and it's just to satisfy my own curiosity and theories.

Ok now I understand. As for comparing a deer versus a person that makes no sense. People are wimps compared to deer. A deer will run off with a leg blown off, a guy will fall to the ground screaming in pain with a broken finger!

I know the OP and he is probably older than you. He is making a valid point IMHO. If it's inadequate for a 90-lb deer, how will it be adequate against a 200+ pound man, jacked up on drugs? Food for thought, nothing more, nothing less.

I understand the point and couldn't agree more. The whole time we have been discussing this, I have always said that a larger caliber has better stopping power. Anyone who argued differently would just be stupid. My whole point is that the 380 isn't totally useless and a full sized 1911 isn't always the best handgun in every situation. There are a lot of times, that a full sized gun just can't and won't be carried.


The age question is not meant to disparage at all, no matter the age. I am 45 and have carried for 20 years.I've gone through a lot of different size guns and right now I'm down to a Kahr P-380 and Glock 36 which gives me options while still being concealable.

Since the OP prefers a full size 1911,which is a wonderful weapon, I'm just wondering if age has any correlation to that choice. Is he young enough that he chooses that because he sees it as the most recommended by the handgun gurus or is he old enough that he chooses it from personal experience and a lack of confidence in small calibers based on older ammo ballistics?

On the other hand, am I confident in the 380 because of a lack of experience and because I live in a low crime area? Do I place too much confidence in improved ammo claims because of my age.

I would prefer to have a 12 gauge for self defense but would sooner have a 32 on me than a 12 in the truck!

I am 62 years old and will be 63 in January and I have killed a hell od a lot of game with both a handgun and a rifle.

I have a wealth of experience in this area and if you would like to talk to me then simply PM me and I will give you a phone number.

The 380 and 32 are no more adequate for deer than they are as a primary self defense pistol. woeful under powered for the role. The distance through the shoulder of a deer is shorted than the distance threw the right shoulder of a 200 plus pound determined attacker. National average is 80% of shots fired are misses in the life or death encounter. The smallish pistols that the 380 and 32 are chambered in are not easy to precisely places ones shot coupled with the very limited power they are not what I would ever stake my life on

There are a number of bullets for the 45 ACP that work very well on deer andf hogs. I know this because I have killed them with the 45

Whitworth, I'm not a fan of the .380, but in answer to your question, one would think you'd be getting a lot closer to the human antagonist than you would to the deer. There isn't so much difference between the .380 and the 9mm or the .38 Special to make me stand up and advocate one over the other in every situation.

I will say, all the technical arguments aside, accurate energy delivered on target is the most important factor in selecting a defensive round. The 10mm (which I don't own) is probably the best semi-auto round for self defense, but my choice is, was and will always be the .45acp. One only needs to shoot it on reactive targets side by side with the .380 or 9mm to see that even with shorter barrels, it delivers more mass/energy and that's the key.

Still, even a drugged up hood will drop to a .380 delivered to the bridge of the nose or a couple to the sternum.

I would rather have my 45 on me and that is what I use as long as I can have a firearm I am going to have one that is adequate

The rather smallish pistols that are chambered in the 380 make such shot placement much more difficult in my experience

I prefer the 45 Super to even the 10mm

First, I never argued that a 380 should be a primary carry gun.

Second, Do you carry your full size 45 everywhere, every time? I tried several different carry systems for several years and couldn't.

Third, I switched to a Glock 36 because I could carry it 80-90% of the time. For all other times. I carry a P-380.

I would rather have the 380 in my front pocket, than the Glock in my truck.

Fourth, I live in an incredibly safe town. If I lived in a larger city, I would likely find a way to carry the Glock 100% of the time. It would just be inconvenient in that I would have to change my summer attire.

Let me state what should be OBVIOUS;

First of all, animals are wired differently than humans and do not respond to pain in the same way as humans. To stop an animal you have to disrupt his CNS or lower his BP � nothing more and nothing less.

Secondly, animals are incapable of psychological or emotional responses. You can�t scare him into compliance or cessation of action.

I guess I could write a paragraph or two to elaborate on those two points as they relate to the differences between self-defense against humans versus animals � but that should be redundant.

It�s amazing what people can reveal about what they don�t know, but I suspect this foolish argument will continue.

So, is a .32 or .380 adequate to kill deer? Under the right circumstances - of course it is.

jwp475..... what is the difference between the 45 super and the 45 acp with +P ammo?

Thanks Roy